Take Two: Boy Who Lived
by Wyrmskyld
Summary: The much anticipated sequel of Boy Who Lived: Take Two. It's recommended that you read that first. A new take on the old saw of Remus and Sirius raising Harry.
1. Snapshots

**_Well, here it is, as promised, the sequel to Boy Who Lived: Take Two. But first, a few notes. Harry Potter: Take Two will update once a week, on Fridays, even though this first one came on Thursday. I have a lot going on right now, but I don't want to stop writing, so this is the best compromise I could come up with. Depending on how this schedule works, I might bump up the pace, but… this is what I've got for now. _**

_**This fic contains an m/m pairing. This is your only warning.**_

**_Harry Potter and associated characters do not belong to me. They belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am definitely not she. Hey! That rhymed!_**

Snapshot. A small cottage on the moor. A black-haired, green-eyed boy's sixth birthday party. The other children—his friends from school—had gone home, and the boy happily wrestled with the large black dog that was his godfather. In the background, a man with tawny hair and golden eyes patiently washed ice cream residue off the faces of a pair of impish-looking four-year-olds.

The name of the birthday boy was Harry Potter. He had his father's looks, and his mother's eyes, and his favorite food was chocolate chip ice cream.

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Snapshot. Hogwarts. A hooknosed man with greasy hair had a three-year-old girl attached to each of his legs. He snarled at a lovely woman—pale, but with a wealth of dark brown hair and huge dark grey eyes—and demanded that she 'remove her hellspawn from his legs.' Nearby, a seven-year-old boy exchanged a grin with a man who could have been the mother's twin. They'd convinced the girls that 'uncle Snapey needed a hug.'

The boy's name was Harry Potter. He had new glasses, and a sack full of chocolate frogs, and his favorite pastime was riding his broom.

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Snapshot. A quiet neighborhood road. A puckish set of six-year-old boys sit atop bicycles for the first time in their lives. Twin mops of dark brown hair cap grinning faces set with huge grey eyes. Their gaze is focused on a boy not much taller than they, although he's two years older. The boy was their brother, and he was teaching them how to ride bikes like Daddy. Although Daddy's bike was much larger, and had a motor instead of pedals.

The older brother's name was Harry Potter. He was a best friend to his adoptive brothers, and a hero to his adoptive sisters, and a constant delight to his adoptive parents.

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Snapshot. London Zoo. A nine-year-old boy was holding a red rat snake up at eye level, talking to it. Staring at him in shocked befuddlement was a tawny-haired man in a zoo uniform. The boy had come with his Papa to visit his Dad at work. They hadn't known the boy was a parseltongue.

The boy's name was Harry Potter. He had a curse scar from an evil wizard, and a gift from that same wizard, and a destiny that would shape his life.

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Snapshot. The cottage on the moor. A family portrait. In the back stood a man with tawny hair and golden eyes, flanked by a dark-haired, fair-skinned pair that the casual observer would assume were brother and sister. The brunettes each had a smiling eight-year-old boy in front of them, and in front of the boys were their five-year-old sisters. In the center was an older boy—ten, perhaps, although he was only an inch taller than the lads on either side of him.

That boy's name was Harry Potter. He was an orphan and an only child, but he had three parents, and four siblings.

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Remus smoothed dirt over the newest photograph in the collection, burying it with the others and then reaching up and tracing the names on the headstone in front of him. Lily and James. A glance behind him showed that Sirius and Rory were finishing up their personal rituals over the graves and would be ready to leave soon. With a sigh and a nod, Remus patted the carved marble like an old friend before conjuring up a wreath of lilies and orchids. Their favorite flowers. Lilies for James and orchids for Lily.

The three visitors stood, reluctant to leave the peaceful spot, but at the same time feeling as if they'd spoken with old friends who they'd see again soon. The last one out the gate, Sirius turned back to the flower-shrouded marker and smiled. "He's growing into a fine boy. You'd both be so proud of him. I know I am."

And perhaps, beyond the veil, the departed but beloved ones smiled back at him.

**_Like it? Didn't like it? Review either way! Oh, and sorry about the rather solemn tone at the end there. I've been spending a lot of time in cemeteries lately. _**


	2. Diagon Alley

**_Mkay, so, this sequel will have a slightly different format than the prequel did. Since I'll almost certainly be introducing new characters, and since I like changing points of view, every chapter will probably be from a different point of view instead of having everyone's views rotating through each chapter. _**

**_Also, since has devised a lovely method for responding to each review individually, I'll forego the lengthy list of responses here, although I will credit each reviewer. To that end, BIIIIG thanks to: HPFan, Baranwyn, TheUnknownMarauder, Avery-Rose-Rain-Slytherin, Heather, gatermage, BlackNeonTears, sexyteluguchica, Katherine Jackson, Lii, Shinigami, uknowho, Becky Silver Black, and Sunny Moonlight! Cookies for you all!_**

**_Anything you recognize herein is the property of J.K.Rowling. Obviously. _**

The transient light of false dawn gave the room an eerie cast as Harry woke up. The silvery reflections on the ceiling seemed to be telling him not to go back to sleep, but he couldn't figure out why. Turning the puzzle over his mind, the boy listened to the crepuscular sounds of the house.

Soft snores came from down the hall, just a shade louder than simple breathing. Harry had never known which of his fathers snored, or if they both did. Across the hall from their room could be heard humming as his mother got ready for the day. On the other side of Harry's room were quiet rustlings as his brothers and sisters slowly started the long journey toward wakefulness. It was nice to wake up early and hear the morning activities of his family.

And they were his family. Harry hated it when people tried to correct him and call them his 'foster family,' or his 'adopted family.' They kept saying that Sirius, Remus, and Rory weren't Harry's 'real' parents. Sure, they weren't his birth parents, but they loved him, cared for him, and did everything that parents should. What other qualifications did they need? They were certainly better than the Dursleys, who'd never even given him a birthday present.

Birthday! That was it! Today was Harry's eleventh birthday! Grinning, he bolted out of bed and started getting dressed. Both sets of twins were going to stay at Miss Bishop's, and their parents were taking Harry to Diagon Alley as a birthday treat! Then the whole family would have a big dinner and open the presents that were already sitting on the living room table. He could hardly wait!

Harry was the first one to breakfast, and eagerly helped Mum and Da make breakfast, while Papa got the twins up. He tried to pace himself and not eat too quickly, but excitement made it difficult. Just as he ate the last crumb on his plate, the family owl, Serendipity, swooped in through the open window and landed next to Harry's plate. The owl was the same one that had carried Harry's letter to Remus so many years ago, which had given her a special place in all their hearts.

An anticipatory silence fell over the adults, and they exchanged glances as Sereh dropped a letter in front of their eldest. Picking it up, he glanced around the table to see three identical grins from his parents and four puzzled but curious looks from his siblings. Then his eyes fell on the envelope, and a shout rang out that startled birds an animals all over the moor.

"I'm going to Hogwarts!"

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An hour later, Harry and his parents stood in front of Gringott's, talking to Hagrid, who they'd run into in the bank. The wild-looking man had ridden with Harry and his mum to the Grey family vault, and then to vault for Hagrid to pick up a small, grubby package that piqued Harry's curiosity. Before he could ask too many questions, however, they arrived outside to find Remus and Sirius arguing.

"We will absolutely _not_ go to Zonko's first, Sirius." Remus had the air of someone who'd been arguing for quite some time, which surprised Harry. His fathers almost never argued for more than a few moments—on the rare occasions when they argued at all.

Seeing them come out of the bank, Sirius appealed to Rory for help. "Tell this stick-in-the-mud that we should go to Zonko's first! It's the most important part of Harry's school supplies!"

The pretty witch laughed, drawing admiring attention from several passers-by. "Why don't we let Harry decide what our plans are? It is his birthday, after all. _And_ he's the one we're shopping for."

"I think… that we should save Zonko's for last." Harry nearly laughed as Sirius's face fell, and Remus grinned triumphantly. "Because then we can spend as much as we want, and as long as we want."

Remus, grinning from ear to ear, held out his hand to his partner, who fumbled in a pocket and passed over a Galleon. But not just any Galleon. This particular coin was quite old, but just as shiny as the day it was minted. The face on the coin had been enchanted to look like James Potter as a joke, and had become something of a talisman to Harry's second set of parents. Harry hadn't figured out exactly where the tradition came from, but his parents were constantly making silly bets with each other in order to gain custody of the Galleon. For some reason seeing it always made him smile, though.

It was finally decided that Harry would get fitted for his robes first, while Hagrid was recovering from the cart ride in Gringotts, so he followed his mother into Madame Malkin's with a resigned air. The plump cheerful seamstress led him to the back of a shop and stood him on a footstool next to a pale boy about his own age.

"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

At Harry's affirmative, the boy drawled onward. "My father's next door buying me books and mother's up the street looking at wands. Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

Harry was beginning to wonder if the boy ever stopped talking when he asked a question.

"Have _you _got your own broom?"

"Yes. Nimbus 2000." It was hard not to gloat at the envious expression on the pale boy's face. The Nimbus 2000 was the latest thing in brooms, and Harry had chanced to overhear his fathers talking about getting it. It hadn't been unwrapped yet, but he knew exactly which package it was, and he was buzzing with anticipation.

"I suppose you're a pureblood then? They really shouldn't let the other sort in." The stranger's face grew eager. "Who're your parents? I'm Draco Malfoy, by the way."

Harry regarded the outstretched hand with well-hidden distaste. He had known that a lot of wizarding families were obsessed with keeping their bloodlines pure, but had never actually met anyone who thought that way before. His parents certainly didn't. Fortunately he was spared the problem of whether or not to shake Malfoy's hand by Madame Malkin. "That's you done, my dear."

Grateful, Harry hopped off the stool and bounded over to his mother, who smiled and mussed his hair. "Ready to go get your wand, kiddo?"

Harry practically dragged her to Ollivander's.

_**Well, I meant to have this up this morning, but I sprained my back, so you should be glad to get it at all today. And I'm going to shut up before I start whining. On a more important note, I was digging through some old files the other day and ran across an unfinished fic called Bedlam's Song. I dusted it off and polled a test audience, and it will now update on Mondays. Check it out!**_


	3. Platform 9 34

**_Hiatus? Nonsense. There was no hiatus. It was all in your imagination. It's just been a reeeeeeeeeally long week. Seriously, though, I haven't abandoned you. Holidays and being sick just eat into my writing time. I'll see what I can do to get back on schedule. _**

The rest of the day had passed in a happy blur, marred only slightly by the rather disturbing information about Harry's wand. Hagrid had bought him a snowy owl, though, and Remus and Rory had restrained Sirius from buying out Zonko's entire stock for Harry.

The month between Harry's birthday and school felt like one of the longest in his life. He read through his textbooks, named his owl Hedwig after someone in his history text, and spent as much time as possible with his parents and siblings. He was going to miss them, and his only consolation was that he would get to see Rory at meals in her position as professor of Ancient Runes. But he promised both sets of twins that he'd write them once a week detailing all the trouble he'd gotten into. He didn't phrase it quite that way, of course.

Harry didn't sleep at all the night before the train to Hogwarts, and the entire morning was a blur. He barely touched his breakfast, too excited to eat. After breakfast, he enlisted his siblings to help him load the car. Then there was the hour-long wait before Remus _finally_ started the car. Rory kissed Harry's forehead and smiled before sending them all off. She was apparating to Hogsmeade and then walking to Hogwarts in order to arrive before the students.

Sitting sandwiched between his sisters, who were clinging onto him as if that could keep him from going away, Harry tried to imagine what Hogwarts would be like. He'd heard all the stories from his parents, but… this was different. This was –Harry- going to school. At least he knew if he didn't make any friends, Rome and Raul would be along in two years.

The train station was crowded when they arrived, and Harry looked around eagerly for other Hogwarts students. A small female voice caught his attention, crying out, "Mummy, I've lost my dragon!"

The plea would have slipped out of Harry's mind immediately if he hadn't spotted the toy in question on the ground. The fuzzy green plush dragon was much-loved, given the evidence of patches, and mismatched buttons that had been sewn on to replaced eyes. He scooped it up, and searched for the source of the voice, his eye finally landing on a knot of fiery-haired people with an owl in a cage. With Adara still clinging to his arm, Harry worked his way through the crowd to the red-haired family.

0o0ooo000ooo000ooo000ooo000ooo0o0

"Mummy… I've lost my dragon!" Ginny Weasley tugged on her mother's sleeve, trying to get attention. Despite her deathgrip on the toy, it had been torn loose in the jostling crowd, which just made this bad day even worse.

It had started when she woke up late, and only had half an hour to get dressed and eat. And Ron was _leaving_. It was bad enough when Fred and George had left to go to Hogwarts, but Ginny was closest to Ron. Not only in age, but also in interests. Now she wouldn't have _anybody_. Not even Emerald. She was biting back unhappy tears when she heard a pleasant voice behind her.

"Excuse me, miss?" Ginny turned to see a boy not much taller than her, with a nice smile and black-rimmed glasses, holding out her stuffed dragon in one hand. The other hand was clutched by a small girl who looked just as upset as Ginny felt—obviously his sister. "I think this you dropped this."

"Emmy!" She reached for the toy, cuddling it close, and smiled shyly up at the boy. She'd just decided that his eyes were exactly the same color as her dragon when her Mum squeezed her shoulder in that way that meant 'you're forgetting something.' Embarrassed by her lapse, Ginny squeaked, "Thank you!"

The boy grinned, and ran a hand through his already-messy black hair. "Anytime."

"Dara! Harry!" Ginny blinked, and glanced toward the handsome, ebony-haired man who seemed to be looking for someone. That someone appeared to be her new friend and his sister, who turned toward the voice and smiled.

"We'd better go. I'll see you around!" Flashing her another grin, the boy headed toward his family, leaving Ginny to gaze after him, without even a name to call him by. At least, not until he glanced over his shoulder and winked at her, and she saw the scar on his forehead.

"Mum…" Wide-eyed, Ginny tugged at her mother's sleeve again. "Mummy, that was Harry Potter!"

0o0ooo000ooo000ooo000ooo000ooo0o0

Remus smiled as he saw Harry turning to answer Sirius's call. It was just like Harry to go out of his way for someone like that. Then the werewolf saw something that made his smile even wider. He touched his mate's shoulder and pointed out the girl gazing adoringly after Harry. "What is it with Potters and redheads?"

"Must be in their blood." The handsome animagus's smile grew a bit nostalgic before he shook himself out of the melancholy mood. Literally shook himself like a dog shedding water, a mannerism that amused Remus no end. The shaking woke Alhena, who blinked sleepily at them before widening her eyes in a moment of terror.

"Daddy? Papa? Where's Harry? Is he gone already? I wanted to say goodbye!" Big silvery-grey eyes started to fill up with tears before they could start to reassure her, and one managed to spill over onto her cheek.

"Hey, now, what's this? You dropped something, Allie!" Harry carefully wiped the tear off of her cheek and held it out to her with a grin. Remus sighed a little as Allie launched herself at her oldest brother with a giggle. It was going to be hard on the girls to have Harry in school. Raul and Rome would miss him too, but the girls idolized Harry.

Thinking of his godsons, Remus glanced around to see them rolling Harry's trunk along, proud of being trusted with the responsibility. Exchanging a look with Sirius, he started herding them all toward the entrance to platform 9 ¾. "Harry and the girls first…"

0o0ooo000ooo000ooo000ooo000ooo0o0

Finally settled into his compartment on the train, Harry waved at his family through the window until he heard a familiar voice. Curious, he located the source of the voice as the family of redheads he'd seen earlier. The girl with the dragon was hugging a lanky boy about Harry's age. "I'll miss you, Ron."

"Chin up, Ginny," said their mother, smiling benignly. "You'll be going with him next year."

"But that's so looong." Ginny reluctantly let go of Ron, then looked up at him, and held out her dragon. "Take Emerald with you. She'll protect you."

"Don't worry, Ginny! We'll take care of ickle Ronniekins!" Harry wasn't sure which of the red-headed twins had spoken. It could have been both, if they were like Raul and Rome. One of them took Ron in a headlock and mussed his hair, grinning mischievously.

"Geroff, Fred!" Ron wriggled out of his brother's grasp and turned to Ginny. "I couldn't take Emmy from you. You can't sleep without him."

"I'll be okay, Ron. Promise." Ginny pressed the dragon into his hands. Harry could tell by the tense look about her face that she was trying valiantly to hide tears. The last whistle blew for the train at that moment, and Ron ran with his twin brothers to get aboard, followed at a more dignified pace by an older brother wearing a prefects' badge.

Harry waved at his family one last time, and then settled back in his seat. He was on his way to Hogwarts! And completely alone in the compartment… He was reaching for a book to pass the time when the door opened to reveal Ron.

"Err… Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full."

"Sure." Harry smiled to see that Ron was carrying his sister's dragon. "I was afraid I wouldn't have company."

"I'm Ron. Ron Weasley." The redhead's eyes flickered to Harry's scar. "And you're… You're…"

"Harry Potter." Harry offered his hand to Ron, who suddenly looked chagrined. "It's okay. I get that a lot."

Before either of them could say anything else, the door banged open, and Ron's twin brothers popped their heads in. "Hey, Ron."

"Listen, we're going down to the middle of the train—Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," Ron replied. "Oh, Harry, these are my brothers, Fred and George."

Harry found himself the subject of the twins' scrutiny. "Blimey, Ginny was right!"

"You're…" the twins chorused, then stopped at once, uncertain.

"Harry Potter?" Harry held out his hand to them, grinning at Ron. "Told you I got that a lot."

**_Well, that's it for that chapter. I could go on, but… frankly, I really wanted to get something up. Now… before you start squawking about me getting Harry out of character, let me remind you that he's been raised among wizards. He really is used to having people gawk at him—although I'm sure Moony, Padfoot, and Rory run pretty good crowd control. He's also got confident, assured role models like Sirius and Remus around. So naturally he's going to be more sure of himself, and probably more mischievous._**

_**Now comes the tricky bit. I'm going to let you the readers choose. Would you rather see more of Harry's train trip in the next chapter, or should I skip directly to the train arriving at Hogwarts? Let me know in your reviews!**_


	4. Introductions

**_Okay, here's the deal. The reason I was hesitant to do the rest of the train ride is that it's going to be very closely parallel to JKR's version. But, almost everyone who reviewed wanted to see it. So… here it is._**

**_I realized that I didn't put in my thanks for the last chapter, so a belated Chapter 2 thank-you to Alix33, Reyna, shayacatalystscifigirl, gatermage, The Unknown Marauder, Becky Silver Black, sexyteluguchica, and uknowho. And now, Chapter 3 reviewers! BlackNeonTears, heather, Alix33, The Unknown Marauder, Reyna, Becky Silver Black, imakeeper, uknowho, and Sunny Moonlight!_**

_**Now on to the fic!**_

Nibbling on a licorice wand, Ron tried to imagine what he would have said if someone had told him he'd spend most of the train ride to Hogwarts sitting and talking to the Boy Who Lived. Only Ron was pretty sure he'd get thumped if he called Harry that. The messy-haired boy seemed to find fame a nuisance at best. "I lost my parents and have a scar. It doesn't make me all that special."

Special or not, Ron rather liked Harry. Of course, it was hard not to like someone who insisted on buying enough candy for an army and then insisted that you share it with him 'because I couldn't possibly eat it all alone.' The only odd thing about Harry was that he never seemed to look straight at Scabbers. There had to be something to it beyond Harry's explanation of not liking rats.

Eying the bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Ron suddenly grinned. "Bet you I can eat more than you without getting a gross one!"

"You're on!" Quickly dividing the bag in half, each boy started picking out beans and taking turns eating them. Ron was sure he had an advantage, having nicked Fred and George's index of colors and mostly memorized it, but Harry seemed to be pretty good at choosing, too. The game was interrupted momentarily when a boy came through looking for his toad, and when it resumed, it was Ron's turn.

Remembering that he was going to get the banana-flavored one next, Ron looked down at his pile of beans. And stared. They were all red. All of them, exactly the same shade of crimson. "Wha…? How?"

Harry started to laugh, and Ron looked at him accusingly. _Harry's_ pile of Every Flavor Beans was completely ordinary. Ron threw Ginny's dragon at the other boy, and folded his arms. "What did you do to my beans, you prat?"

"Sorry. I couldn't resist." Harry caught the toy easily, and grinned. Ron couldn't help grinning back, shaking his head. Something told him Fred and George now had competition for pranks. Poor Hogwarts. "If you move one, they'll all go back to normal. It's a weak spell."

Sure enough, stirring the pile of beans about with a fingertip returned them all to their original colors. Ron glanced up at Harry and asked, "How's it work?"

Harry had just raised his wand when the door opened again.

0o0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0o0

Hermione Granger had been elated upon receiving her Hogwarts letter. It explained some of the bizarre things that had happened to her, and Hermione hated unsolvable mysteries. As soon as the Hogwarts Express had left the station, she'd changed into her new Hogwarts robes, and most of the ride thus far had been spent going over her books again. She knew them from cover to cover already, but it never hurt to reread things.

She was just about to read about the uprising of Elfric the Eager for the fifth time when the door to her compartment slid open. A round-faced boy stood there, almost in tears. "Have you seen a toad? I've lost mine. He keeps getting away from me."

"No, I haven't seen one." Carefully marking her place, Hermione put up her book and stood. "But I'll help you look. My name's Hermione Granger. What's yours?"

"Neville Longbottom." The miserable boy followed her out into the aisle, and into the next compartment, where two boys sat with a pile of candy between them.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," Hermione asked because it was already on the tip of her tongue, but she was far more interested in the fact that the bespectacled boy had his wand out. The redhead said something, but Hermione was already moving to sit down. "Are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."

The two boys exchanged a look, then the one with the wand shrugged, and pointed at the pile of Every Flavor Beans in front of him. "Rufus exsto."

Hermione was fascinated by the blush that crept through the candies. They seemed to change color slowly, but it couldn't have been more than a few seconds before they were all a uniform red. "Not a very useful spell, is it? But then I suppose they can't all be useful. It's interesting, at least. Of course, all magic is interesting. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course. I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard—I've learned all our course books by heart, of course. I just hope it's enough. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

"Ron Weasley," the redhead muttered.

"Harry Potter," said the other.

Hermione was pleased and surprised to have her background reading pay off so soon, and said as much. She was slightly put off when Harry shrugged and waved his hand, saying "Yeah, I know," in an annoyed tone.

"Well there's no need to get so huffy about it. You've got to expect that kind of thing, don't you?" She decided it was time for a change of topic. "What house do you suppose you'll be in?"

Much to Hermione's surprise, Harry cut in before she could continue. "Probably Gryffindor. That's where the rest of my family's been. I'd be happy with anything but Slytherin, really."

The redhead nodded agreement, and Hermione was left without anything to talk about. "We had better go find Neville's toad. And you two had better change. We're almost there, you know."

With Neville in tow, Hermione headed out the door, rather hoping she'd end up in the same house as the boys. At least there would be someone she'd met, even if they were rude.

0o0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0o0

When Ron had entered the compartment where Harry Potter sat, Scabbers almost had a heart attack. The very last person he wanted to see, and he'd been put in a train compartment with him. Well… almost the very last. Well, actually… Among the top ten of people he didn't want to see, and they were in a train compartment together.

Never in his life had Scabbers ever wanted to be invisible more than at that moment. And strangely, his wish seemed to be coming true. The boy's eyes seemed to slide right over him. He was a rat, however, and not likely to relax just because of a small triumph.

The real challenge was yet to come, however, as three more boys entered the compartment. Scabbers recognized them, of course—how could he not? They were the images of their fathers. The Malfoy brat had even perfected his father's sneer. Their presence put Scabbers in a quandary, though. He knew he had to hide from James's son. There was no way Sirius hadn't described Wormtail to him. But would Malfoy have told his son? How many people was Scabbers going to have to hide from?

The conversation drew Scabbers' attention, and he smiled to himself as Harry proved himself by telling Malfoy off. 'Prongs would be proud…'

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," Malfoy said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them either…"

It was fortunate for Scabbers that no one was looking at him at that moment. And perhaps fortunate for Draco Malfoy as well. Even after all this time, despite everything that he had done, there was still a glimmer of Peter Pettigrew in the rodent's heart. There was still a hint of the Peter who had idolized his witty mischievous friend. _Nobody_ insulted James Potter in Peter's hearing.

Which made it most satisfying when one of young Malfoy's goons put his hand within range of sharp angry teeth.

_**Rufus exsto, in case anyone cares, roughly translates to 'appear red.' **_

**_Wow. This is soooo not what I expected this chapter to be when I started. But it was fun! And I suppose we'll get to Hogwarts next chapter. If you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it, though, there shouldn't be too many complaints. _**

**_On another note, I have something else to poll you all about. I know that JKR says that Remus's middle name is John. But that's so BOOORING. So, although it won't come up for a while, I want to know what –you- think the 'J' in Remus J. Lupin should stand for. Be creative!_**


	5. Hogwarts

_**Eheheh… Yeah. Updates. Mhm. And sadly, as much as I'd like to promise this is me starting back on a regular schedule, I can't. Although hopefully it won't be quite so long between chapters next time.**_

_**Thanks to all the lovely incredibly patient people who are reading this, and thanks to my reviewers: OnlyTimeWillTell, duckie666, TheUnknownMarauder, alix33, Mab, desartratt, Lii, BlackNeonTears, Becky Silver Black, Baranwyn, and uknowho.   
**_

Hogwarts. It wasn't the first time Harry had seen it, but this time it was special. This time he wasn't coming to visit his mum, he was coming to stay. To learn, and make friends, and maybe cause a little trouble. There was something, well… magical about Hogwarts at night. The lighted castle looked unreal, and Harry couldn't take his eyes off of it as the boat he was in glided across the river.

Harry was too excited to listen to McGonagall's speech, although he was fairly certain she didn't say anything he didn't already know. Other students started whispering about what the Sorting Ceremony might be, but Harry wasn't worried about that. Sirius had told any number of wild tales about the Ceremony, but Remus's amused expression during those stories put his mind at ease. Remus always got that look when Sirius started telling tall tales.

Finally it was time to enter the Great Hall. Harry had been there before, too, but never had he seen the place filled with students and lit with candles. It was breathtaking. Then McGonagall brought out the Sorting Hat. By the time its song was finished, Harry's stomach was in knots. He shifted from one foot to the other, watching students being called forward.

"Potter, Harry!"

Like a pebble dropped in a pond to create ripples, Harry could hear his name spreading throughout the room— could feel the eyes turning to stare at him. His stomach knotted even more from the attention until he saw his adopted mother sitting at the professors' table smiling at him sympathetically. With a lifting heart, he sat on the stool.

0o0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0o0

The Sorting Ceremony this year was taking foreeeever. Fred waited impatiently for it to end, whispering snide comments to his twin about the new first years. They were a sorry lot so far, if the only one within earshot was any judge. The bushy-haired girl had hit it off with Percy immediately, talking about classes. Which made sense, since she was a female version of him. It was a sad, sad thing.

Things brightened up a bit when Harry Potter went under the Sorting Hat. Every house could be seen leaning forward, and Fred was sure there were people at every table with their fingers crossed. Having Potter would be points for coolness, at least.

George muttered over the sound of his stomach growling, "Hat's taking its time on this one, innit?"

"Likes keeping us in suspense," Fred theorized.

If that was the Hat's motive, it was certainly working. A hush fell over the Great Hall as everyone waited to hear the Hat's decision, which seemed to take longer this time than any of the previous ones. The expectant silence was beginning to get uncomfortable, and people were just on the verge of shifting anxiously when—"GRYFFINDOR!"

The table exploded. With cheers for once, rather than one of the twins' pranks. "We got Potter! We got Potter!"

Fred was pleased but not surprised when Ron got sorted into Gryffindor a few moments later, although he was tempted to poke Percy with a pin to see if being puffed up like that would make him explode. Dumbledore's speech was pleasantly short, and Fred applied himself eagerly to the feast.

Then it happened. If Fred had looked up a split second earlier or later, he'd have missed it. It was beautifully executed, really. George had just finished pouring more pumpkin juice in his goblet, and Percy had asked for it. George passed it across the table to Harry, who passed it on to Percy—but not before Fred saw the tiny splash as the bespectacled boy dropped something in the pitcher. When Percy poured his juice and took a sip with no ill effects, Fred was rather let down.

Which made the pitcher's eruption a few seconds later that much more beautiful. A geyser of pumpkin juice spewed forth, drawing the eyes of everyone at the table, and no few people at other tables… And then it splashed down on Percy, who'd been staring openmouthed at it. Shocked and delighted, Fred looked at Harry, who grinned impishly before schooling his features into shocked innocence.

Fred started to laugh, regardless of McGonagall's stern approach. This was going to be an interesting year.

**_I kept trying to make this chapter longer, but every time I started to add something, I changed my mind, so... here is what I have. Make of it what you will. And review? Pleeeease? Incidentally, if you want to harass me about updating, check out my website!_**


	6. Wolfsbane and Dogthoughts

_**Eee… I got a jooob. At Petland. I'm very happy. I get to go around all day playing with snakes and ferrets and kitties and puppies and bipolar parrots! It's fun, really. But I'm off today, so let's see if I can get a chapter written for my lovely fans!**_

**_Oh, and a bit of a warning… this chapter's gonna cover a lot of ground. There's one scene I wanted to change to fit in with my paradigm, and the rest… I'm kinda skipping forward until I get to actionly bits. So… this chapter spans from Harry's first few days through, oh… Hallowe'en. Basically I'm assuming that you all know the chain of events in the book, and they all happen here, just very slightly different unless noted otherwise. _**

_**Thanks to my reviewers: Hazel Maraa, cutieme012, BlackNeonTears, Becky Silver Black, Baranwyn, leafyaki, imakeeper, Aislinn of Azarath, uknowho, and alix33! **_

_**And do I really even need a disclaimer at this point? Naah. Didn't think so.**_

Harry's first few days as a student at Hogwarts were… interesting, to say the least. He'd assumed that having been there before to visit his mother would give him an advantage in figuring out his way around the castle. He quickly realized his mistake—the only places in the castle he knew how to get to were the Great Hall and the Runes classroom.

Fortunately he wasn't the only one constantly getting lost, though, and most of the professors were willing to overlook lateness for the first week. Harry was sure that Snape wouldn't be among them, however, and he and Ron got more and more anxious as they roamed the dungeons looking for the Potions classroom. Just in time, they spotted Hermione entering a classroom, and followed her, hitting seats near the front a split second before the bell rang.

Snape glared at them, but didn't say anything. Then his sneer deepened, and Harry knew he was about to be put on the spot. He wasn't entirely sure _how_ he knew, but he knew. Part of it came from the stories his parents had told him about their former classmate. And part of it came from Harry's certainty that Snape hated him, for reasons unknown. Unless it was because when he was seven, he'd convinced Allie and Dara that Snape needed hugs, but that seemed unlikely.

Whatever the cause, Harry was quickly proven correct when Snape, after a brief speech, barked his name. "Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

"Uhh…" Harry racked his brain, noting that Hermione's hand was in the air. A memory saved him. He and Remus were in Hogsmeade, shopping for potion ingredients, and the werewolf—as was his habit—told Harry what all the various ingredients were used for, and he distinctly remembered Da saying that asphodel root was invariably used for one thing only. "A sleeping draught."

He'd spoken with a great deal more certainty than he felt, but it apparently paid off, if Snape's sour look was any judge. The professor's sneer intensified, and he asked another question. "And where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

"An apothecary's." Harry conquered the impulse to grin when his response gained him a ripple of laughter around the room. He hadn't really meant to give a smartass answer, but that _was_ where Mum always got bezoars. She said she needed them, the way half the household would eat anything on a dare, regardless of whether the thing looked remotely edible. "They're an antidote to almost all poisons."

Snape's sallow skin turned an interesting shade of red at the laughter, and he pinned Harry with a cold glare. Harry gritted his teeth, and met the angry gaze with a calm, reasonably respectful one. It was hard not to roll his eyes at the next question, however. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

"There isn't one. They're the same thing, and they also go by the name of aconite." As if he wouldn't know _that_, living in the same house as a werewolf. Snape seemed displeased by the answer, which confirmed to the rest of the class that Harry was correct. The rest of the class period was torture, and he almost went limp with relief to get out of the class with only two points taken.

0o0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0o0

Hermione _adored_ Hogwarts. The classes, the professors—well, most of the professors, the castle itself. Everything about the entire place was awesome, in the oldest form of the word, meaning 'inspiring awe.' But her favorite part of Hogwarts—unquestionably and predictably—was the library. Even on the rare occasions when she wasn't studying, the library was her sanctuary.

Today, she was pondering the other students. Especially Harry Potter. He was an enigma, really. She'd expected the savior of the wizarding world to be, well, more powerful. Instead, he was… normal. There wasn't anything remarkable about the boy at all except for his scar, as far as Hermione could tell. He wasn't the cleverest student, he wasn't particularly good at any subjects, he got lost on his way to class at least once a day… It was really rather disappointing.

He was good at making friends, though. And of course, he had done reasonably well in answering Professor Snape's questions during the first Potions class. Hermione was sure that none of the other students could have done any better. Honestly, how _did_ they expect to get ahead in school if they didn't study before class? … And he also seemed to have Professor McGonagall wrapped around his finger. Breaking who knows how many school rules by getting on that broom, and did he get in trouble? No. He got put on the _quidditch team._ And now this so-called duel… Really it was just too much.

Hermione had to do something. She wasn't sure what, yet, but… something. And she resolutely ignored the niggling little voice that insisted to her that Harry _was_ very good at one thing. Getting out of trouble.

0o0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0o0

The room was quite small, and generally rather dull, but Fluffy didn't really mind. It had been many years since one of his kind had been asked to guard an entrance to the underworld, and he took his responsibility seriously. The middle head did, anyway. The other two were slackers. If he hadn't been half-asleep the other night, those four little humans wouldn't have escaped.

And if they hadn't distracted him, the odd-smelling one wouldn't have gotten away tonight! Honestly, and they called themselves cerberi. At least he'd managed to bite the creature tonight. Although he wasn't sure he'd ever get the greasy taste out of his mouth. Pity the big one wouldn't come with food 'til morning.

The middle head of Fluffy sighed, and found an old bone to gnaw on.

**_Okay… in case you got lost, the last bit here is taking place while Harry, Ron, and Hermione are fighting the troll. I skimmed over the broom and quidditch bits, because frankly Harry's been on a broom before, and has seen quidditch games. Speaking of quidditch games, there's one coming up next chapter! Yaay!_**


	7. Quidditch

**_Err… just a quick note, so nobody gets confused… as far as the kids are concerned, Remus is Daddy, and Sirius is Papa. It's been mentioned before, but I'm using it a lot in this chapter, so I thought I'd remind you._**

**_And thanks to the lovely OnlyTimeWillTell, alix33, BlackNeonTears, imakeeper, Becky Silver Black, and uknowho for reviewing!  
_**

Romulus and Raul were very excited. They'd been rather pouty for the past week because Dara and Allie were going to spend the day at the zoo with Daddy. He'd offered to take the boys, too, but they refused to go to 'Take Your _Daughter_ to Work' Day. After all, there'd only be giiirls there.

But then yesterday Papa promised to take them to a quidditch game while the girls were at the zoo, and now the girls were the jealous ones! Raul privately thought—and Rome agreed—that the girls were more upset about missing a chance to see their brother Harry than they were about missing a quidditch game. Daddy comforted them with the knowledge that Harry would be too busy to talk.

Daddy and the girls left early, by way of the Floo, since they'd have to walk a little ways from the other end to the zoo. There weren't many Floos in that part of London. As soon as they were gone, Raul and Rome started excitedly getting ready to go to Hogwarts. Long before time to leave they were dressed in identical grey sweaters and maroon scarves, following Papa around.

"He's enjoying torturing us, isn't he?" Raul sighed to Rome in the private language the pair of them had developed when they were toddlers. They still used it between themselves when they didn't want to be overheard, although Raul suspected Mum understood it.

"Definitely," Rome agreed darkly. So far they'd watched Papa eat a late breakfast, read the paper—papers, actually. Daily Prophet _and_ the Quibbler. Now they were waiting impatiently while he tried to decide what to wear. Rome rolled his eyes and added, "He's trying not to smile. You can tell by the way the corners of his eyes keep trying to crinkle."

Raul eyed Papa for a moment. He was wearing his favorite robes—the dark silvery grey ones. He might change three or four more times, but it was pretty much a given that he'd end up wearing those. A glance at Rome revealed that he was thinking along the same lines. As one, the two boys each grabbed an arm and started dragging their dark-haired father toward the fireplace.

"Okay, okay, you win! Little brats." Raul found himself scooped up and held upside down by the laughing animagus. "I suppose you want to leave now so we can get good seats before the students arrive?"

"YES!" both boys chorused. Shaking his head and grinning, Sirius set Raul down, and pulled the pot of Floo powder off the shelf.

"Remember now, it's 'Hogwarts, Professor Grey's office.'"

0o0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0o0

Hermione wasn't overly enthusiastic about the upcoming quidditch match, having never seen a game before in her life, but she was more than happy to come and support Harry in his first game. It would have been impossible, however, to not catch some of the excitement of the surrounding crowd, especially since Ron beside her was fairly bursting with anticipation.

The players finally came onto the field, Harry looking as if he was very nervous but trying to cover it up. Hermione waved at him, but was distracted by voices behind her. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw a tall, handsome man and twin boys. The boys were the ones yelling and waving excitedly, "Look, Papa! It's Harry! Hi Harry!"

She pushed a lock of frizzy hair behind her shoulder while she studied them. The boys were probably eight or nine years old, and they looked a lot like their father. And even more like their mother, Hermione realized, as the Ancient Runes professor—wearing a maroon and gold scarf— joined the group and was addressed as 'Mama.' But it was the man who tugged at Hermione's memory frustratingly. Where had she seen him before?

The first score of the game, followed by Hagrid's arrival, distracted her from her musings momentarily. But nothing could distract her for long. Really it was frustrating. She _knew_ she'd seen him before. Not at King's Cross, though, or Diagon Alley… Or _was_ it at Diagon Alley? Yes! She'd seen is picture…

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled, cutting off Hermione's train of thought again. She looked up just in time to see Harry's broom give a wild jerk and unseat him. A strangled sound could be heard from behind her, and she whirled to look for the source. The handsome man was even paler than he'd been before, and the expression on his face wrung at her heart…

Now wasn't the time to watch him. She vaguely heard Hagrid saying something about Dark magic, and she grabbed his binoculars. If she was right, someone in the crowd, somewhere, was trying to kill Harry. Scanning the crowd through the binoculars seemed to take a terribly long time, but she couldn't go any faster, or she'd miss something. "I knew it. Snape—look!"

Hermione remembered saying something to Ron, and giving him the binoculars, and then she was forcing her way through the staring crowd, heading for the Slytherin stands. The part of her mind that was detached from the need to distract Snape from jinxing Harry winced as she knocked Quirrell over, but she had a more important destination in mind. Blue flames shot out of her wand, and she waited breathlessly for the potions master to discover that he was on fire.

When he did, it was the work of a moment to scoop the flames into a jar, and Hermione was halfway back to the Gryffindor stands before he started looking around. She paused and looked up to check on Harry, and smiled in relief to see him climbing back onto his broom. She arrived just in time to hear the crowd gasp as Harry's broom went into a dive, and she watched in shock until she realized it was too controlled to be a fall. He clapped a hand to his mouth along the way, and rolled off the broom as he reached the ground. Hermione held her breath as Harry began coughing, then burst into cheers with the rest of the Gryffindors—and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs—as Harry held up the Golden Snitch.

They were on their way to Hagrid's cabin for a cup of tea and to get out of the noise when the man who'd sat behind Hermione in the stands stepped out of the shadows. Harry smiled at him and broke away from his friends to receive a paternal hug and hair-mussing. The conversation was quiet, and only lasted a moment before Harry was heading back to them, and the stranger was smiling at Hagrid. "Tell Fang I'll bring him a steak next time, Hagrid."

The gamekeeper laughed, and shook his head. "Yeh keep forgettin' you're not a studen' anymore. Yeh don't _need_ to get Fang too fat to move."

"True. But it never hurts to keep in practice. Besides, someone else might need it." The man winked at Harry, and started heading back toward the stands.

Hermione waited until he was out of sight, and then asked, "Who was that?"

"The only studen' as ever gave me more trouble than Fred and George Weasley." Hagrid grinned—apparently the trouble was rather amusing.

Seeing Hermione's still-puzzled face, Harry laughed. "He's my godfather. Sirius Black."

**_I was going to end the chapter here. I did end the chapter here, in fact. Then I changed my mind. _**

"But he's a murderer! He was sent to Azkaban!" Hermione tried to keep the fear from being apparent in her voice, but… there was a way things were supposed to be, and this wasn't it! All the books she'd read said that Sirius Black killed James and Lily Potter. Harry shouldn't be laughing with—and getting hugs from—the man who killed his parents. And he especially shouldn't be _calm_ about it! And _Ron_ shouldn't be laughing at _her! _

"So there's something Hermione doesn't know after all!" Ron's shout was triumphant, and she glared at him, slightly offended. Despite the triumph in his voice, his eyes were sympathetic, and he grinned at her almost gently. An idea flickered across Hermione's mind, whispering that Ron took pride in the fact that Hermione 'knew everything,' but he spoke before she could analyze it completely. "Most of your books are more than six years old, aren't they?"

"Well, yes, but he was sent to Azkaban ten years ago, and he was supposed to be there the rest of his life." Hermione frowned. Obviously her friends thought she was missing something, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out what it was.

"Don't worry about it too much, Hermione. There haven't been a lot of books on the subject since then." Harry smiled at her and shrugged. "Guess it's not as interesting when a man goes free, or something. Anyway, about six years ago, a couple of Sirius's friends found proof that he was framed, and got him out. The Ministry actually ended up having to pay him money for wrongful imprisonment and for not giving him a real trial in the first place."

This was news to Hermione, and she wished she had something to write on so she could get it all down. Memory would have to serve, though, and she leaned forward eagerly. "Tell me more…"

**_Hmm… well, this isn't exactly how I'd intended to set this chapter up. Originally I was also going to track Remus and the girls. But… eh. I decided this flowed better. If you want to see what they're up to, mention it in your review and I'll endeavor to please, although it's not nearly as interesting as this chapter was. _**

**_Now, another question. We know Remus works at London Zoo, but… what does Sirius do? I have a couple of vague ideas, but I'd like to hear your suggestions too. (Besides, when I ask questions like that, I get more reviews. Bwahahaha.)_**


	8. Christmas

_**BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER! Go back to chapter 7 and read the last few paragraphs if you haven't already done so. I was going to do that portion as a flashback in this chapter, but I decided that was just stupid.**_

**_Okay, someone was confused in the reviews, I think because of the progression of time between this chapter and the last. So, easy rule of thumb here— if I don't mention an event that happened in the book, that doesn't mean it didn't happen in this story. It simply means that the event was so close to JKR's version that I really didn't feel the need to change it. I'll try to be better about referring to events and giving a better sense of time passing from here on out.  
_**

Harry lay awake in his bed, listening to the sounds of his dormmates sleeping. He liked doing that—it gave him time to think. Plus Ron's unconscious mumblings were usually pretty funny. The room would be a lot quieter tomorrow night with only Ron and himself in. Everyone else was going home for the holidays. In fact, Harry and the Weasleys would probably be the only Gryffindors remaining behind. They were staying because their parents were off to visit their older brother Charlie in Romania.

And Harry was staying because Ron was. It didn't seem fair to leave him with only his brothers for company, and inviting him home was out, as Christmas Eve was a full moon this year. Somehow Harry was pretty sure Ron would have issues with spending the night in a house with a werewolf. Although Dad's last letter had mentioned something called the 'wolfsbane potion,' that would hopefully let him get through the night without being locked up.

Harry's gift to Hermione was sitting on his trunk, to be turned over to her in the morning before she left. She'd wanted more information about what really happened the night Harry had lost his parents, but he felt uncomfortable talking about a lot of it. He'd mentioned the problem in a letter home, and the response had been thick stack of papers that turned out to be a transcript of the trial, along with copies of all the newspaper articles on the subject. All of it was very interesting, and would hopefully answer all of Hermione's questions.

Thinking of Hermione reminded him that they still hadn't found information on Nicolas Flamel. She'd suggested that they look over the holidays, when the library would be more or less abandoned. He'd have to remind Ron. Somewhere a clock struck eleven, and Harry took his glasses off with a yawn, curling up to sleep.

0o0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0oo0o0

The first part of holidays was so busy that Harry forgot about Flamel entirely. Of course, it might have been slightly less busy if he and the Weasley twins hadn't entered into an unspoken prank war. It had been Harry's idea to wake them up one morning with snowballs to the face, and the pranks back and forth started flying fast. In between pranking and getting pranked, Ron began to teach Harry wizard's chess. It amazed him that his friend had never learned before, although Harry just shrugged it off and went back to arguing with Seamus's rook.

Ron awoke Christmas morning to Harry's whoop of glee, and sat up, yawning. "Merry Christmas."

"Come on, Ron. Presents!" Harry pulled on a robe and surveyed his small pile of gifts with excitement.

"What did you expect, turnips?" Ron yawned again, and went for his rather larger pile. It was beyond him how Harry could go from fast asleep to wide awake in a matter of seconds. And it was rather annoying. He yawned again, and glanced over as Harry tore open some wrapping paper to reveal a bright emerald sweater.

"Oh, no… Mom's made you a Weasley sweater." He picked up his own lumpy package, and ripped it open. "Every year she makes us a sweater. Mine's always maroon." Ron pulled it on, noting that Harry seemed delighted with his. No accounting for taste, there. They continued opening gifts, and suddenly Harry opened a parcel containing something fluid and silvery grey. Ron gasped. "I've heard of those… If that's what I think it is—they're really rare, and really valuable."

"What is it?" Harry picked up the silvery stuff, and studied it curiously.

"It's an invisibility cloak. I'm sure it is—try it on." Ron gave a yell as Harry disappeared under the cloak. Literally disappeared. Harry read the note that came with the cloak while Ron admired it. He was about to try it on out of curiosity when the door burst open to admit Fred and George.

"Merry Christmas!"

**_Okay, so here's the deal. I'm suffering from maaaajor writer's block here. I know what's going to happen next, I just don't know how to transition into it. I'll add onto this chapter as soon as possible, but I thought I'd just make sure everyone knew I was still alive. Besides, my muse always perks up some as soon as I've posted a chapter. _**


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